Seventh Annual Better Living Expo returns to Presidential Caterers

Guests wander the exhibitor booths at the The Better Living Expo held at Presidential Caterers in East Norriton last year. The annual event had music, entertainment, workshops and vendors from local businesses and organizations. Photo by Gene Walsh / Times Herald Staff

EAST NORRITON — By the time you reach mid life and beyond your self awareness is at an all time high and you’ve learned that all good things come in due time.

Now that you’ve waited patiently for nearly a year, you’ll be happy to know that one of those good things happens to be just around the corner: the Seventh Annual Better Living Expo on Oct. 9.

For the third year in a row, the 4-hour free event geared toward making the second half of life the better half returns to Presidential Caterers in East Norriton.

“We’re happy to be back at Presidential for our seventh annual Better Living Expo,” noted Stan Huskey, editor of The Times Herald, which is co-sponsoring the event with the elegant banquet hall and Einstein Medical Center Montgomery.

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“It’s always good to be at Presidential. It’s a great location; everybody knows how to find it and their reputation precedes them,” Huskey noted. “We think we’re going to have another great turnout this year. The crowd seems to keep growing and growing. And it’s going to be fun this year having the new Montgomery Hospital as our sponsor again, with a new name: Einstein Medical Center Montgomery.”

Many perennial BLE favorites are choosing to spend the hours of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Oct. 9 in the company of loyal returnees and newcomers, including the always popular speaker Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman.

“Risa’s return is a big plus for us,” Huskey said.

Ferman’s topic of discussion this year has been reserved as a surprise, but is fairly guaranteed to keep her audience as riveted as last year’s hot potato: scams on seniors.

With Einstein Medical Center Montgomery having opened the doors to its glassy, cutting edge facility in East Norriton just days before the Better Living Expo, the timing of the popular event for baby boomers and seniors alike couldn’t be better, noted Einstein’s Leroy Howell, manager of public affairs.

In preparing for the hospital’s role of a gold sponsorship, Howell said he had attended the last couple of Better Living Expos to size up the operation and was impressed on many levels.

“The event is now under Einstein Medical Center Montgomery as we have transitioned from Montgomery Hospital to Einstein, so I’m pretty well aware of how the event goes and where we can locate the individuals we need as speakers and things of that nature.”

Einstein is no stranger to events catering to the over-50 set, Howell pointed out.

“We’ve done a number of these events, but Better Living has the distinction of being a larger, grander affair than similar events, he allowed.

“It’s actually a little more involved than some of the senior events that I’ve seen because it is at a larger venue. A place like Presidential Caterers always brings in more individuals, and that’s always a good thing. There are more activities that go on at Better Living than some of the smaller events that I’ve seen. I know that in addition to doing the health briefings and workshops they do raffles to kind of jazz up the ceremonies.”

With many folks no doubt being curious about the new state-of-the-art medical center at the other end of town, Einstein will be prepared to furnish Better Living guests with all the information they need.

“We’ll make sure we have an information table there where we’ll be handing out specific information about our services that are coming to area.”

Howell noted that the hospital’s staff would be conducting health screenings such as blood glucose and blood pressure checks, in addition to Ask The Pharmacist, Cancer Education, Heart Health, Flu Prevention and Smoking Cessation.

“The individuals who come through will be able to take a reading with them, which will show what their blood sugar was and also be able to get information on cholesterol and other things,” Howell said. “We’ll also be giving out information about stroke prevention and also recognizing the symptoms of stroke because one of the key things about stroke is that time is of the essence. They always say time means more brain power, so part of what we do is tell people don’t stall, make the call … call 911.”

Many attendees probably come to hear the classic sounds of Ol’ Blue Eyes as much as for the information and activities, mused Howell.

“I think the Frank Sinatra impersonator is something that also really brings in the crowds. There’s so much promotional value with this being done with The Times Herald and I think that really gets the word out and will get the attendance up to where it should be.”

Vocalist Bill Ford, whose take on the Sinatra songbook has become synonymous with BLE, was not available for crooning purposes this year.

Instead, the crowds will be treated to the sounds of Peter Scott Ruben singing Sinatra and Friends.

As fans of the unique annual event know, Better Living has plenty more to offer, including a variety of local vendors, workshops, health screenings, door prizes and free massages courtesy of Cortiva Institute.